Teenager marries 72-year-old sweetheart
A US teenager has tied the knot with his 72-year-old sweetheart after the couple met in a pizza restaurant, despite a staggering 53-year age gap.
News.com.au reports Gary Hardwick, 19, has been married to Almeda for two years and apparently popped the question after dating the pensioner for just two weeks.
The couple, who live in Maryville, Tennessee, say it was love at first sight.
“The first thing that attracted me to Almeda was her beautiful, gorgeous blue eyes. And her personality,” Gary said.
“She’s always full of laughter and we just connected so well. The chemistry was great.
“Everything about her has just captured my heart since day one.”
Almeda added: “If you love somebody, age is just a number. I’ve now been happily married going on two years with my true soulmate.
“We met at Chuck E Cheese, there was a birthday party there. I looked into his eyes and I just fell in love.
“I knew he was the one I wanted to spend my life with. I was never intimidated by the age at all.”
Despite the age gap, Gary and Almeda reportedly share a lot of interests.
I never feel as though I’m missing out on anything by being married to Almeda,” Gary said.
“I’m really mature for my age; I do not fit into the young age bracket at all.
“I’ve never been attracted to younger women. Even when I was 13 or 14, I’ve always had an attraction for older women and when I told my grandmother, who raised me, I didn’t know how she would take it. But she accepted us.
“A lot of people wait years to get married and everyone has different opinions on getting married quickly. But we knew we were in love, so I jumped on that.”
News.com.au reports Almeda’s grandchildren, Aaron and Indiana Elliot have been supportive, even though they found the relationship difficult to accept early on.
“I only called him Grandfather once and it was when I was drunk,” Aaron said.
“In my head, I see him as a friend more than a grandfather. But you know, our grandmother is happy.”
Indiana, 17, added: “And how can you not be supportive about that?
“For me personally, whenever they first got together it was a little bit weird. But, I mean, we live in the 21st century and those things really shouldn’t matter.
“My mum on the other hand is very outspoken, because there’s an age difference between him and my mum too, so it’s a little weird to see your mother walking around with someone the same age as your own kids.”
What are your thoughts?
Hero image credit: Facebook / Gary Hardwick